Given Laika's high anxiety on leash, her training started with peanut butter as a focus and reward on walks. At first, this worked pretty well, aside from us returning home both covered in it! We must've looked insane, but act least her behavior wasn't. Next, our trainer Lilian wanted us to move on to using a clicker to help Laika focus when she was about to flip-out. This worked well, but to click, keep Laika steady on the leash and give her a treat took a bit more coordination than I could muster. Lilian then introduced us to a tasty (for Laika) ally in the battle against leash anxiety: Easy Cheese.
Apparently, they now make dog-specific brands of similar products to use for training and filling toys, but, at the time, there was only the human-marketed brand. I think it came in several flavors but we usually stuck to the basics: Cheddar or American. I never tried this, as I am vegan, but Laika was immediately a fan and would suckle the can as if it were her baby bottle. It was amazing that such a processed food product go elicit such joy in her, but it made walks generally more easy as we got used to the click-and-spray routine to calm Laika's nerves. Although, she would sometimes still screech at real and imaginary animals outside while sort of foaming cheese out of the corners of her mouth! (I am legitimately laughing about this mental imagine while typing this.) Additionally, passersby would sometimes ask about why I was carrying the cheese. Upon explanation and demonstration, most were quickly converted from curiously amused to true believers in the power of Easy Cheese.
It actually got to the point that we could walk in/near the park where inconsiderate, law-breaking caretakers would let their dogs run off-leash and she would stay relatively calm. Granted, this required a large amount of cheese. I can remember using an entire can of American cheese in one afternoon! Although some of it remained as a yellow halo on her whiskers and snout, she did very well! In fact, she was improving a lot on leash and was actually able to hang out with me in public places on occasion without being uncomfortable. I can remember one time my friend Jimmy took the cheese and sprayed a thin mustache of it on his upper lip. Everyone though it was hilarious. Laika thought it was delicious as she proceeded to lick it off of his face! She was in bliss the whole time, wiggling her entire body with pure delight.
After a few months, it came to my attention that Laika's new-found behavior outside came at a cost: she had gained a bit of weight from the constant "doses" of cheese. At one point, she was around 68 lbs, which the vet told me was a little too high for her. Laika was not obese, but was on the way. As a result, we cut out the cheese and replaced it with peanut butter cookie treats, which were very enjoyable for her and less calories. In under two months, she lost 5 lbs from not eating the cheese. The vet and I were both excited, as Laika was still keeping her anxiety mostly in check on leash, too! I figured that the cheese was pretty unhealthy, but this was proof. However, its use as a treat was an important step in Laika conquering her anxiety, which was great. She would no longer scream for cheese on walks, and, in fact, she wasn't screaming much at all anymore. I was so proud of her progress!
Using Easy Cheese also led to a few other stories...(to be continued tomorrow)
Laika and I outside my parents' house, braving the cold with cheese in hand!
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